Tag Archives: Christ Jesus

I wonder

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When a man comes to Christ Jesus the guilt of his wrongdoings can flow through his mind more quickly and more consistently than the very blood flow through his heart.  Remorse can flood the man’s sense of history.  And there is a very distinct desire to be able to be go back and right the wrongs.

The reason I speak of that is because I was considering the state of affairs in Detroit Michigan.  And I wondered if the liberal politicians, corrupt leaders, and greedy workers, have considered their part in the state of Detroit today.

I wonder because, with Jesus my conscience will not allow wickedness to live in me without guilt and shame.  But I wonder if these men consider what they have done and feel remorse.

They have stolen and plundered from Detroit whatever piece of the pie they thought was fair.  And they would tell you, if you ask, that they only played the game according to the rules of the day.   A sort of, “Well, everyone else is doing it”.

I have to admit that if it hadn’t  been those certain people who destroyed detroit, the destruction would have come anyway in different names.

But do these people ponder what they have done?

Blood to Blood

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I woke to look around me at the state of affairs in America.  The President (the first of us all) has been re-elected.  Sadness fell on me like a smothering blanket.  As the choice of this election was between freedom or oppression, the people have chosen oppression.  And I drove through the night with tears which found no eyes from which to fall.  Dryness appeared where once there was a joyful spring of living water.

I was aghast at the number of our citizens who supported the liar.  Those who fell for wickedness as if it were a god.  Those who desire their own sin before the needs of their fellow men or even that of God.  I am appalled at their lack of knowledge to divide between what is true and what is false.

Greed, pleasure, ease of life, and an unholy trust in all that is unholy has gripped them in an iron grip of death.  They think they are gaining freedom.  But the freedom they desire is bondage to lies, corruption, and every wicked thing man has ever devised to rebel against the Holy God who gives them life.

Then the Lord came to comfort me in my sorrow.  He spoke only a few words and my soul was lit with joy.  “Blood to blood”, came His words.  “As it was begun in blood so shall it be sealed with blood.”  These things have come to pass that those words might be fulfilled.  Who is he who will render the blood of Jesus’ people?  Isn’t it he who hates the very concept of the word Holy?  Therefore they must appear.  NOW THE GOSPEL OF OUR LORD JESUS, THE GLORIOUS CHRIST OF GOD, SPROUTS TEETH!

They will revel in their perceived victory.  They will marvel at the liar they now support.  But this liar will turn on them with detachment.  He will have no pity on those who now think they are bound to receive all good things from his hand.  Their joy will turn to absolute loss of hope for the things they expected to give them life.

During their celebration the Lord is building His people into that Holy Faith which was at first.  Listen to your brothers and sisters speak of the Lord with a renewed interest.  The smell of putrid sin is carried on the breeze.  Even into the inner rooms the whisper of horror begins to murmur.   The sense of urgency is beginning to come to the sleepy minds of my family in Christ Jesus.  And I am encouraged to witness this marvelous transformation begin.

When the joy of sin dissipates from the corrupt they will turn in a violent desire to know what is true and lasting.  They have desired what they have gained.  And when it appears to them that their desire is false, they will desire what is true.

As God’s people begin to endure persecution the “awakened” corrupt will witness my family’s plight and how they stand with courage, even joy, to receive what is dealt to them.  They will ask and we will answer with the hope that is within us.  Though we continue to speak of what is true and good, there will be an asking.

Many will believe and come to a living faith in the Son of God.  Many will hear and believe, but when shown what they must do they will be too weak in their soul to strive with the Saints.  They will turn again to all their old ways and will encourage one another to more violence against the Lord’s people.  They will even vent their hatred on one another.  And thus, “Blood to blood” will come to pass.

Now, my beautiful brothers and sisters of “The Way”, gather yourselves and turn away from her.  She is full to overflowing with sin.  And as you embrace even a slice of her ways you will embrace her sins.  Judgment is coming upon the entire earth, from the sins of Cain to the present wickedness, the judgment is coming.  Therefore depart from her ways.  Count yourself dead to the things of this world and seek with great earnestness the strength we will need to survive in our faith at the coming persecution.

I cannot urge you beyond these words, my family in God.  If we stand it will be by His strength.   And make no mistake in this:  He who does what is right is righteous.  He who is holy is he who divides himself from all that is unholy.  He who loves with the Love of God rebukes himself and makes right judgments regarding sin and righteousness.

Where does the strength to do what is righteous, holy, and pure come from?  Do you not know that prayer is essential to such strength?  Look at your desire to pray.  Enhance it to a fire.  Let the desire in you grow for a love of God’s ways.  Stop looking to the world for the joy of your heart.  Was not Lot’s wife turned to a pillar at such longing?

I have sought the Lord’s blessing that I might give account of what has just happened.  Darkness has set over America with finality.  Do not suppose there is a resurrection of what was before.   A new darkness is now appearing.  And it will not be taken out-of-the-way.  Prepare to glorify the Lord Jesus with your dedication and even blood.

As I wrote these things, I wrote by faith.  All things are of faith from first to last.  Even your reception of these things will be of faith or not.  But now I will recount something I think of value to all my brothers and sisters.

I appeared before the Lord to ask if there was anything false in what I wrote.  “All things are come from faith among my people”, was His reply.  Then I spoke before Him of our sins as a family.  I confessed for us that we were taught some of our lazy approach to His Holy ways.  But that even in this the Holy Word of God has been before us.  We joined in the lies willingly that we might benefit from the things of this world.

Then I turned my attention to my own sin (or at least what I perceived as a sin).  You see, my family, I drive truck for a living.  The freight I carry is not necessity.  I do not build tents to keep people sheltered.  I do not produce or provide clothing or food of an essential nature.  I deliver trinkets of sin this world creates so that the people of this world might cover themselves with displays of pride.  And in this I find no joy.

His reply was that this is the way of man to earn a living according to where the Lord places him.  This is among men and is not counted against any one of us.  There are trades which are wicked and should be abandoned.  But such things as are involved in the machinery of America are not counted against His people.

I mention this because I know that as we come alive in the Spirit of God such things will come to mind.   As we strive to rid ourselves of every wicked thing, we will encounter that question regarding our source of employment.  And with this word I strive to put at ease false accusation of our trades which the Lord Himself has granted that we inhabit.  I will not have the wicked one accuse my brothers unjustly.  And I will not have them suffer under lies.

By His Grace.

Greedy Salvation

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Ornament

Ornament (Photo credit: Thom Watson)

A man held a fragile glass ornament in his hands.  The glow from it filled the man and prompted him, beyond his own ability, to proclaim all its beauty.  As the man walked through the market place he was witnessed by all for his words spoke of a beauty beyond the people’s perception.  The way he spoke roused their hearts.  And many were desirous to own what he spoke of.  Soon some of the people had found a similar orb of fragile glass.  And they too spoke of the beauties it provoked them to witness.

Then one of the people approached the first man and said to him, “Give me that ornament.”  “I cannot give it to you” said the owner.  “Then I will rip it from your hands!  For I perceive that it is to be desired.”  At that the man took the ornament from the owner and held it in his own hands.

His eyes grew wide.  His face became as one who had tasted an entire handful of dill.  His body convulsed at the impact from the orb.  And quickly he gave it back to the owner.  “This is a LIE!”  He said with lungs full of the air he had sucked at his convulsion.   “This man speaks lies!”  He began to turn to the people to proclaim what he perceived to be the truth.  But out of the corner of his eye he witnessed the reaction of the man as he took back what was his.

A glow of warm peace enveloped him.  A beaming smile of love covered that man’s face.  And he began again to speak softly of the loving embrace he had from ownership of this ornament.  This stopped the greedy man.  He turned once again to the owner.  And with a slightly different voice said, “Give me that orb.”

At the second and softer request, the owner gave the orb willingly.  The greedy man took it once again.  This time there was a distaste upon the greedy man.  But it was less intense.  For he understood that he had not understood.  And now he was willing to endure what came.  If only he might also have what the owner possessed.

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He has granted sin to flourish in this Place of Testing.  By His wisdom He has created this place to test His own power to heal.  His Glory abounds among the men of sin.  And Healing is in His hand.  By jealousy He has caused many to fall before Him and confess.  By pride of man He has transformed many to be His children.

How great is the wisdom of He who lives forever!  That He should create this among us.  And how beautiful, beauty beyond words, is the Living God in Christ Jesus His Holy Son!  That we who have tasted that He is good, should be used to entice the greedy by their very greedy ways.  All praise to He who Heals eternally.  He has done this!  And it will be our lot to praise Him for His Beauty forever!

Amen!

A Thought Worth Thinking

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stop. sit. rest.

stop. sit. rest. (Photo credit: McBeth)

We are throughout the land.  We are scattered but not as a band of men are scattered.  It remains said, “In Him we live and move and have our being.”  Where you are right now, so am I.  What you suffer I also suffer, for we are the body of Christ Jesus.

A rejoicing hair on His Glorious head will cause a tingling in the little toe of His left foot.  Just as well, an assault against His knee is an assault against His nose.

It is good to remember that we are connected even though we are vastly different.  Surely His elbow does not desire ill for His heal.

Origins

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A Sefer Torah, the traditional form of the Heb...

A Sefer Torah, the traditional form of the Hebrew Bible, is a scroll of parchment. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

How amazingly striking is the difference in the writings of the early Church Elders and the writings of men today who consider themselves elders.  What began our faith is not the same power among men today.  We hear the constant ringing of a limp bell which touts the Love of God in Jesus.  But the dedication unto death is the blazing fire which should have strengthened that bell.

What is called the Church today hands out fuzzy blankets to a people stranded in Arctic conditions, wishes them well, then abandons them to the wiles of wickedness all around them.  I do not say this without foundation.  Purity toward the holy life has dissipated in the rising heat of hell itself among the people today.

I urge you to consider what I have posted here.  The world is not void of their writings.  Yet how many take the time to look into these things?  We have all heard the constant voice which appeals to us to remember the height from which we have fallen.

I am no more than anyone who reads these words.  Indeed, I am far less than even the saints of this day.  But why should we settle for a diluted message?  The call of God is urgent, pure, and sure.  It is the same today as it was in the beginning.  It is only the adaptation of this age which waters down the Gospel to a sweet savor of “love”.  As the love between a husband and wife has been reduced to sexual behavior between adulterers, so that LOVE of God has become dispersed to simply mean kindness or restraint from murder.

What of warriors for Christ Jesus?  What of men and women born of the Holy Spirit into a holy life?  How can what is Holy give birth to anything less than Holy?  But the world and the corrupt message of certain men regarding the Gospel have allowed any sin to attach itself to the life of their people.  How will such things become acceptable to the Holy Lord of Life?  Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever!  It is man who has determined, in his “eternal” wisdom, that he can change that pure message from water to tar.

Grasp and return to that message which God has delivered to this day.  He has given His very blood to keep that Word through the ages.  And we would do well to read and learn of the kind of men and women who were used by God to found our faith.  Listening to the message today and reading the message of the starting, one would think we are serving an entirely different God.

By His Grace.

Notes From Reading “The Shepherd of Hermas”

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English: The Lord Jesus Christ in the image of...

English: The Lord Jesus Christ in the image of Good Shepherd. Early Christian trsdition of symbolism. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I am reading “The Shepherd of Hermas”.  I have stumbled on a few thoughts regarding “The Faith” and “The Way” that are worthy of note.  May the Lord of Life impart understanding through these words.

There are men in whose life righteousness has been King.  And there are those whose life has been dimmed by sin and a certain broken consistency with righteousness.  To the former, in Christ Jesus, is the prospect of salvation and glory.  To the latter, in Christ Jesus, is the prospect of salvation and far lesser glory is the prospect of their faith.  To each eternal life is offered.  The righteous will seal their identity in the body of Christ if they remain consistent to the end.  The wayward soul may attain to salvation in Christ Jesus if they will mend their pace toward attaining what the righteous own by their consistent actions of godly living.

What aspect of “The Faith” remains upon each group is that each is encouraged to add to what he already has attained.  What man can muster the measure of righteousness which the Lord Jesus held from birth to death?  So we encourage one another to add to their testimony all things good and sure.

In one way, I cannot help my brothers more than to render these words of hope and encouragement.  Yet, by my own appropriation of righteousness, it is possible to impart some worthy provocation toward what glory the Lord will give to those who practise righteousness.  That is to say:  If I live out the truth of Christ in my own life I can leave a legacy of example.  And in this way we are more effective in encouraging one another to a living faith.

And I am made aware of another aspect of “The Way” which we hear little about.  Salvation is not found in knowledge.  Rather salvation is found in “The Doing” of what is pure and right. And as we do what we are told more understanding will be given to us.  This understanding is said best by the Lord Jesus, as spoken by the “New Living Translation”:  “Those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them.” (Matthew 13:12)

Many seek to understand the greater things of God.  They perceive that if they understood more they would, naturally, become more adept at doing the things of God.  While Godly knowledge is good to own, there is an obvious tendency for knowledge to “puff up” a man’s perception of self.  It is better to be lacking in knowledge of revelation while doing the things of God, then to be over filled with pride for that which adds very little to a man’s obedience to the commands of Christ Jesus.

May the Living God bless these things for the sake of His Holy name to all people who desire to please Him.

By His Grace.